With Bear Spray and Twitter, Woman Nabs Package Thief

America's latest crime fighting superhero is a California photographer named Sonya Yu, who subdued a neighborhood criminal menance with bear spray, an oriental wooden samaurai sword called a bokken, and Twitter, according to the Sand Francisco Chronicle and several other news outlets.

The residents of a neighborhood around San Francisco were annoyed to say the least over thefts of delivered packages from their front stoops. Yu said she lost $1,500 in goods from  some moron on a bicycle, and neighbors on the street reported similar problems.  

Crime fighter extraordinaire Sonya Yu nabs
a thief creatively and hilariously

Yu, decided she'd had enough. She placed a bait package on her porch and waited with her arsenal.
for the thief to come around

Sure enough, here comes the guy on the bike. He saw her, and she took off in hot pursuit, waving the bokken and getting him good with at least half a cannister of the bear spray. The spray, used to ward off maurading bears, is not too dangerous, but stings like hell if you get any on you.

I'm not sure if there's too many bears in her San Francisco neighborhood, so I don't know why Yu had so much bear spray, but to each his or her own.

The guy got away from Yu, but soon police, spotting a guy in obvious pain and covered in orange bear spray, made an arrest.

Meanwhile Yu gave her neighbors the play-by-play on Twitter. One of Yu's initial Tweets stated: "I got him with the bear spray but he escaped."

A little later came this missive over Twitter from Yu: "I chased him with pepper spray & bokken, cops were cracking up when they arrived to see me & my weapons."

I'm sure the police are now considering consulting with Yu on the proper use of a bokken and bear spray, to add to the police department's crime fighting toolkit.

For the record, area cops said they discourage this kind of confrontation with criminals - you never know if they have a gun or something -- but it's perfectly within the rights of people like Yu to make citizens arrests.

Yu didn't quite come away unscathed. A little bear spray blew back on her. She Tweeted: "In related news, I hope none of you ever get bear sprayed because even back spray hurts."

Then she added in a subsequent Tweet: "Tho imagining how bad he's suffering (considering I emptied half a cannister of bear spray on him) makes me feel better."

So much better, in fact, that despite the day's excitement, she went ahead with plans to cook a nice gourmet dinner at her house for friends she'd invited over that evening. For the record, there was no bear meat or bear spray on the menu.

The suspect, Andy Aduha, 51,  is fighting back. He and his lawyer said he is the victim of entrapment, since the package Yu left on her stoop was fake. The lawyer said Yu's vigilantism was improper. 
Of course, he didn't have to grab the bait package. We'll see how that works out for Aduha in court.

In any event, somehow I think bear spray and maybe bokkens, will be on a lot of people's Christmas wish list this year.